Family trip to DC
 

Reasonable priced places to stay? Not sure of what areas are close to sights or convenient to Metro We are planing an April trip and need to make any arrangements for sights asap. Advice? Our kids are 13 and 8.

Driving or flying? From where? How many days?
Reagan National has it's own METRO stop and is on the west side of the city. You should find cheaper lodging in the Arlington and Pentagon City areas than in the heart of the city.
You should not need a rental car unless you wanted to visit something outside the city away from the METRO lines.

To f/u above, Pentagon City is a great choice as across the street from the Penagon City MAll basement located subway stop is a Residence Inn. There is a grocery store very near and Residence Inn usualy will shop for you. Getting from Reagan Airport is fast & easy too: you can take subway from airport right too Pentagon City MAll (2nd stop I think) or if not, taxis are very cheap or super shuttle too. Residence Inn can make arrangements for Hertz if you need a car one day: otherwise subway is ideal transport.

I like Pentagon City MAll area too: sort of upper hip, very safe and there is a great food court in the same Pentagon City Mall basement as subway.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...pentagon-city/


Be sure to plan on seeing the Pentagon 911 Memorail: go at sunset: see it in day and tehn see it lite up after dark. Try to understand arrangement of the memorial benches and reflecting pools. It wil bring meaming to your trip.

Be sure to do a night tour: the Capital is stuning at night: for a one of a kind historical tour I highly rec

A Tour de Force (tel. 703/525-2948; www.atourdeforce.com) is historian and raconteur Jeanne Fogel's 29-year-old company. She offers various modes of transport, from walking to bus, SUV, and limo tours. Fogel custom designs the route around the city per your request and size of group, from a romantic tour for a couple to a traditional sightseeing excursion for a convention crowd. Fogel (or her stand-in) peppers her narration with little-known anecdotes and facts about neighborhoods, historic figures, and the most visited sites. Call for rates.

It's worth mentioning that your trip is planned during a popular time to visit DC -- school spring breaks and the Cherry Blossom Festival will drive hotel availability and price. 2012 is the centennial anniversary of the cherry blossoms so the festivities will be extended for longer than usual.

What price do you consider to be reasonable? That will help people make appropriate suggestions for you.

>>Reagan National has it's own METRO stop and is on the west side of the city. <<

If I had to pick one of the 4 main directions, I'd go with south of the city.

We recently stayed at the Virginia Suites in Arlington VA. nice place,Rate was great,Its a really nice apartment building that has been converted to Apartment type rooms we had a double bedroom separate living area and a kitchen to boot!! About 10-15 min walk to Metro which will have you in to DC in 10-15 mins to the National Mall,Cab ride to Lincoln Memorial was about 6-7 dollars us.

We are driving and planning on staying 3 or 4 days. We'dlike to spend less than 200 a night, possibly with breakfast included.

Places outside of DC would include Crystal City or Near the Key Bridge.

Crystal City has many options to choose from and many metro stops that would take you into DC to many places!

Dc is amazing! April, as mentioned, will be crazy busy and if around the cherry blossoms being in bloom...well, expect some crowds!

8-)

With kids that age - I would definitely go the the Spy Museum. Don't go nuts at the cost - it's well worth it. We went about 5 years ago and spent over 3+ hours and could have spent much more. Great fun!

http://www.spymuseum.org/

Of course the Smithsonian museums are fabulous. The Air & Space is our fav but also love the others.

Our enjoyment of the Spy Museum was dampened by the huge crowd we encountered during Spring Break. I'd go as early as possible to avoid this as much as possible.

Should you decide to go, sign up for Goldstar as they offer discount tickets on a regular basis. I've used Goldstar many times and it's a legit discount ticket site.

https://www.goldstar.com/

D.C. area hotel rooms are not cheap. Especially when you are going.

IMHO, if I was doing it with kids I would stay in old Arlington and take the train in. By the water, there is tons for the kids to view and rows of restaurants, blocks of them- all types- and a kind of art/kids' venue of several stories, plu the Metro stop is right there- fab. You can be at a Smith. or Archives or anywhere in less than 1/2 an hour with little walking to boot.

The Metro fares are great- it was $22 for the entire week of rides. Look at the different categories- passes for multiple rides. Do not take your car with you. Parking is going to cost and it is time consuming. With that transit system you do not need it.

I think you mean Old Town Alexandria

Last spring I took my grandchildren to DC, we stayed at the Holiday Inn just two blocks from the national mall (actually, 2 blocks behind the Air & Space Museum). I was impressed....much nicer than any other Holiday Inns I have seen. A couple of years ago I took just my grandson and we stayed at the Courtyard Marriot near corner of F St. and 9th.....across street from Spy Museum. It was unique in that it is in an old bank building and still has some of the old bank look in the brass rails in the lobby and the vault in the restaurant. Hotels in DC are expensive so the first time I used Priceline but the Holiday Inn was recommended by someone else. There are so many things to see and do on the mall that I wouldn't consider staying anywhere but in walking distance of it.

vjp - LOL! I was thinking the same thing.

Three to consider:

Next to Gallery Place Metro station and walkaable to many tourist sites:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...n-dc-downtown/

Next to Metro Center Metro station and walkaable to many tourist sites:
http://hotel-harrington.com/

A B&B type place next to Dupont Metro station. Rooms are priced individually - look at a suit or some combinations of two rooms. Prices for their various rooms do not rise/fall based on time of year unlike most hotels.
http://www.tabardinn.com/rooms

At any of these - book very soon. You are are going to DC a it's most popular time and competition (and prices) for rooms will only continue to go up between now and April.

We went to DC in October and stayed in Arlington at the Americana. It's an older property, one block from the Crystal City Metro stop, with free parking and continental breakfast. It averaged out to around $100 per night for the three of us.

If you'd like more information, click my screen name and you can read my trip report.

Lee Ann

Yes, you are both right. I meant old Alexandria. Arlington from there too, just brief Metro stops away.

It's ok to stay in town, sure. My choices would be right by the Archives, but your costs are going to be considerable at nearly any time of year. And you do say you have a budget desire for room cost.

I thought that the discount borkers (and we went in February and had NO CROWDS, and could enter into everything immediately, no lines, no reservations)for hotel rooms in D.C are not at all in the discount ranges of other big cities. Cities like NYC or Chicago, or SF. All of those you can get discounted Priceline, hotwire, quikbook rooms city center and have wins at very discounted bids.

Not D.C., IMHO. Everytime I have tried to do D.C. with grandkids- I have found that the hotel costs are twice what my discounted rooms would cost anywhere else.

If you get some within D.C. and close to mall area- even downtown area- for less than $225- let us know. Come back.
I'd love to see what your outcome will be. For 4 too- not going to be easy staying within D.C. at your budget.